Learning to Read a Simple Book
I. Rationale
The learning to read a simple book activity is designed for beginning L2 learners that have not been taught to read in the L2. The books are designed around what the learner already knows and the learner is then taught to read the book to other students. Because the book is very simple it helps to have the learner prepare to read the book to very young children. Preparing to read what is basically a picture book to your peers can be embarrassing but preparing to read it to an age appropriate audience normalizes the activity. Learning to read words you already know
This activity supports language development by a) creating opportunities for meaningful and authentic interaction, and b) allowing students to focus on form.
A) Creating opportunities for meaningful and authentic interaction.
Gilmore (2007) discusses the benefits of using authentic materials for L2 teaching and learning. Not everyone agrees on what constitutes an authentic material so Gilmore lists some criteria that have been proposed in the literature. This activity falls under the criteria of being “language produced by a real speaker/writer for a real audience, conveying a real message” (p. 98). Gilmore (2007) reports that some researchers associate increased student motivation with the use of authentic materials (p. 107).
B) Using writing to encourage students to focus on form.
Doughty & Williams (1998) describe focus on form and it’s connection to focus on meaning. They that while focus on form and focus on meaning are not mutually exclusive that “focus on form consists of an occasional shift of attention to linguistic code features-by the teacher and/or one or more students-triggered by perceived problems with comprehension or production (p. 23). Anderson (2008) states that “Strong metacognitive skills empower language learners: when learners reflect upon their learning, they become better prepared to make conscious decisions about what they can do to improve their learning (p. 99). In this activity learning to read not only provides additional learning by teaching the student to associate already known material to a specific writing system but it also provides learners with additional tools for monitoring their learning. Anderson (2008) writes that “Good language learners are able to recognize when they do not understand and stop to do something about it (p. 101). As students learn to read they can use reading as a tool to help them learn to pronounce specific words more accurately and remind them of differences between words that they ordinarily confuse.
Description
There are two levels of books depending on the students’ academic maturity, L2 level, and L1 reading level. The books are picture books so each page must have a picture of what is being described. The books can be created in Keynote or Powerpoint, printed on a color printer and then “bound” by placing in page protectors in three ring binders. They can also be created in iBooks Author, an app that allows you to create books on your computer, which can then be exported for reading on an iPad.
The easiest book only includes nouns that the student already knows and follows the following format:
Page 1: The top of the page says: “What is this?” The middle of the page has a large picture of a noun that the student knows. Under the noun it says “This is a (name of the noun) in the picture.” All writing is in the target language.
Pages 2-4: These pages follow the same format as the first page with a different noun on each page.
Page 5: The top of the page says: “Point to the (name of one of the nouns used on one of the preceding four pages.) The rest of the page has the pictures from the four preceding pages.
Pages 6-8: These pages follow the same format as page five using a different noun from the previous four pages for each page.
The book continues in the same format for as many pictures as you feel you want to include.
The learning to read a simple book activity is designed for beginning L2 learners that have not been taught to read in the L2. The books are designed around what the learner already knows and the learner is then taught to read the book to other students. Because the book is very simple it helps to have the learner prepare to read the book to very young children. Preparing to read what is basically a picture book to your peers can be embarrassing but preparing to read it to an age appropriate audience normalizes the activity. Learning to read words you already know
This activity supports language development by a) creating opportunities for meaningful and authentic interaction, and b) allowing students to focus on form.
A) Creating opportunities for meaningful and authentic interaction.
Gilmore (2007) discusses the benefits of using authentic materials for L2 teaching and learning. Not everyone agrees on what constitutes an authentic material so Gilmore lists some criteria that have been proposed in the literature. This activity falls under the criteria of being “language produced by a real speaker/writer for a real audience, conveying a real message” (p. 98). Gilmore (2007) reports that some researchers associate increased student motivation with the use of authentic materials (p. 107).
B) Using writing to encourage students to focus on form.
Doughty & Williams (1998) describe focus on form and it’s connection to focus on meaning. They that while focus on form and focus on meaning are not mutually exclusive that “focus on form consists of an occasional shift of attention to linguistic code features-by the teacher and/or one or more students-triggered by perceived problems with comprehension or production (p. 23). Anderson (2008) states that “Strong metacognitive skills empower language learners: when learners reflect upon their learning, they become better prepared to make conscious decisions about what they can do to improve their learning (p. 99). In this activity learning to read not only provides additional learning by teaching the student to associate already known material to a specific writing system but it also provides learners with additional tools for monitoring their learning. Anderson (2008) writes that “Good language learners are able to recognize when they do not understand and stop to do something about it (p. 101). As students learn to read they can use reading as a tool to help them learn to pronounce specific words more accurately and remind them of differences between words that they ordinarily confuse.
Description
There are two levels of books depending on the students’ academic maturity, L2 level, and L1 reading level. The books are picture books so each page must have a picture of what is being described. The books can be created in Keynote or Powerpoint, printed on a color printer and then “bound” by placing in page protectors in three ring binders. They can also be created in iBooks Author, an app that allows you to create books on your computer, which can then be exported for reading on an iPad.
The easiest book only includes nouns that the student already knows and follows the following format:
Page 1: The top of the page says: “What is this?” The middle of the page has a large picture of a noun that the student knows. Under the noun it says “This is a (name of the noun) in the picture.” All writing is in the target language.
Pages 2-4: These pages follow the same format as the first page with a different noun on each page.
Page 5: The top of the page says: “Point to the (name of one of the nouns used on one of the preceding four pages.) The rest of the page has the pictures from the four preceding pages.
Pages 6-8: These pages follow the same format as page five using a different noun from the previous four pages for each page.
The book continues in the same format for as many pictures as you feel you want to include.
Example of format for pages 1-4
Example of format for pages 5-8
Because the reader of the book is asking the listener to do something on the pages where there are four pictures it is important for the student to not only learn how to read the words on the page but how to interact with the listener as well. So the teacher needs to teach the student to say, “Yes! That’s it!” and “No, that’s a _____.”
The slightly more difficult book is for students that have learned to say verb phrases and includes pictures of phrases that the student has already learned to say but hasn’t learned to read. It can include some new combinations as well as some new nouns and verbs but is mostly based on what the student has already learned to say. Each page is different so there is no pattern or format to follow. Following is an example of a page from that book. As you can see the picture takes up most of the page and the text is very simple. It is best if the picture makes the meaning obvious so that no English explanation is needed for either learner.
Because the reader of the book is asking the listener to do something on the pages where there are four pictures it is important for the student to not only learn how to read the words on the page but how to interact with the listener as well. So the teacher needs to teach the student to say, “Yes! That’s it!” and “No, that’s a _____.”
The slightly more difficult book is for students that have learned to say verb phrases and includes pictures of phrases that the student has already learned to say but hasn’t learned to read. It can include some new combinations as well as some new nouns and verbs but is mostly based on what the student has already learned to say. Each page is different so there is no pattern or format to follow. Following is an example of a page from that book. As you can see the picture takes up most of the page and the text is very simple. It is best if the picture makes the meaning obvious so that no English explanation is needed for either learner.
Reflection
I did this activity with my group of special education high school students. My lowest reader only reads at a first grade level and so I had him learn to read the easiest book. Even though he knew the names of the objects on the page, the page with four objects required him to be able to actually read the words as he couldn’t just name the picture on the page. He also had to learn to read the word “tikkuaġuŋ” as we had not yet used that in class. I had to also teach him what to do and say on the pages where the listener is supposed to point to a specific picture. We practiced reading through the book once a day for several periods before we went to the language learning nest for him to read it to the children there. When we practiced I pretended that I was the child listener and would sometimes point to the wrong picture so that he could practice telling me that it wasn’t the right picture.
My least challenged special education student was able to read the more difficult book. Even though she had learned the names of most of the animals and the way to say most of the verbs she has a very difficult time remembering what she has learned and I found that reading gave her a way to say what she would have otherwise forgotten to say. I have noticed that she often confuses what she has learned and will call an animal or object by the wrong name. Because I know which words she mixes up I was able to note that she was actually reading because she didn’t get them wrong when reading them. For example she always mixes up chair and snow machine. Chair is: “aquppiutaq,” and snow machine is: “aputikuġun.” I’ve watched her confuse these two consistently for six months. When reading she was able to say the words correctly. I believe this focus on form through writing has the potential to help her finally stop getting these two and other similar pairs mixed up. It would be interesting to experiment and find out if over time this were true.
The third special education student was able to read the easy book and is still working on learning to read the more difficult one. I can see where learning to read books that are based on material that the students already know helps students branch out into reading. I can also see where learning to read can help students get additional exposure to material that they have struggled remembering. Learning to read simple material in order to be able to read to young children, for which, the material is age appropriate, takes away the stigma associated with reading simple material.
All three of my students were very proud at being able to read to the little children. One of the things that I realized through doing this activity is that reading to younger children isn’t as clear-cut as one would think. The children try to turn the page even when the reader hasn’t finished reading that page. They argue with each other over turning the pages and if not taught to not do so will rip the pages in the process. The first reading of a book on the iPad proved impossible because they kept turning the pages. We even had problems with the children turning the reading session into a tumbling, wrestling “the student is a jungle gym” session. These observations of children’s natural tendencies required me to train my students to not allow the children to turn the pages and to ask for assistance when a child begins to climb all over them. This need to be assertive is especially difficult for my most cognitively disabled student so I have resorted to sitting with him when he is reading to the children.
We’ve gone back to the language learning nest several times to repeat the activity and it gets better each time. My experience with this activity would lead me to agree with the research that suggests that authentic materials and tasks increase student motivation and that focus on form through reading increases student metacognitive awareness which can in turn help students monitor their learning.
I did this activity with my group of special education high school students. My lowest reader only reads at a first grade level and so I had him learn to read the easiest book. Even though he knew the names of the objects on the page, the page with four objects required him to be able to actually read the words as he couldn’t just name the picture on the page. He also had to learn to read the word “tikkuaġuŋ” as we had not yet used that in class. I had to also teach him what to do and say on the pages where the listener is supposed to point to a specific picture. We practiced reading through the book once a day for several periods before we went to the language learning nest for him to read it to the children there. When we practiced I pretended that I was the child listener and would sometimes point to the wrong picture so that he could practice telling me that it wasn’t the right picture.
My least challenged special education student was able to read the more difficult book. Even though she had learned the names of most of the animals and the way to say most of the verbs she has a very difficult time remembering what she has learned and I found that reading gave her a way to say what she would have otherwise forgotten to say. I have noticed that she often confuses what she has learned and will call an animal or object by the wrong name. Because I know which words she mixes up I was able to note that she was actually reading because she didn’t get them wrong when reading them. For example she always mixes up chair and snow machine. Chair is: “aquppiutaq,” and snow machine is: “aputikuġun.” I’ve watched her confuse these two consistently for six months. When reading she was able to say the words correctly. I believe this focus on form through writing has the potential to help her finally stop getting these two and other similar pairs mixed up. It would be interesting to experiment and find out if over time this were true.
The third special education student was able to read the easy book and is still working on learning to read the more difficult one. I can see where learning to read books that are based on material that the students already know helps students branch out into reading. I can also see where learning to read can help students get additional exposure to material that they have struggled remembering. Learning to read simple material in order to be able to read to young children, for which, the material is age appropriate, takes away the stigma associated with reading simple material.
All three of my students were very proud at being able to read to the little children. One of the things that I realized through doing this activity is that reading to younger children isn’t as clear-cut as one would think. The children try to turn the page even when the reader hasn’t finished reading that page. They argue with each other over turning the pages and if not taught to not do so will rip the pages in the process. The first reading of a book on the iPad proved impossible because they kept turning the pages. We even had problems with the children turning the reading session into a tumbling, wrestling “the student is a jungle gym” session. These observations of children’s natural tendencies required me to train my students to not allow the children to turn the pages and to ask for assistance when a child begins to climb all over them. This need to be assertive is especially difficult for my most cognitively disabled student so I have resorted to sitting with him when he is reading to the children.
We’ve gone back to the language learning nest several times to repeat the activity and it gets better each time. My experience with this activity would lead me to agree with the research that suggests that authentic materials and tasks increase student motivation and that focus on form through reading increases student metacognitive awareness which can in turn help students monitor their learning.